Kuujjuaq elders’ home to become temporary homeless shelter

The former Tusaajiapik elders’ home in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, will serve as a temporary homeless shelter until October 2027, the village’s deputy mayor said.

Deputy Mayor Claude Gadbois told Nunatsiaq News on Friday that a one-year agreement among the municipality, the Nunavik Housing Bureau, the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services and the Ungava Tulattavik Health Centre allows the building to be used as an emergency shelter.

The village’s previous shelter closed in September because of its poor condition, including a leaking roof, mould in some areas and recurring leaks from problems such as frozen pipes, Gadbois said. People who used it have since been staying in tents behind the building.

“It’s been deteriorating for many years. We kept up with it, but it’s getting to the point where it’s not feasible anymore,” Gadbois said.

Residents of the elders’ home were relocated to Montreal earlier this month after Nunavik health officials cited technical problems with the building, including its heating system. Gadbois said he did not believe heating was the main reason for the closure. He said the building lacks a sprinkler system and needs renovation, but is suitable as an emergency measure for one year.

Quebec required automatic sprinklers at seniors’ homes housing 10 or more residents after a 2014 fire at an elders’ home in L’Isle-Verte killed 32 people. The deadline for compliance was extended to December 2027, and it is unclear why the residents were moved more than a year before that date, Nunatsiaq News reported.

The Nunavik Housing Bureau, which owns the building, did not respond to questions about whether the heating problems were fixed or whether the building is suitable for use as a shelter, the newspaper said.

Gadbois said between 15 and 25 people need shelter on any given day in Kuujjuaq, a figure that does not include people staying with relatives or couch surfing. A proposal developed with the Quebec Housing Corp. four years ago would have funded a nine-bed shelter, which the municipality considered too small. It now wants a 25-bed facility, possibly built on or near the existing site once the old building is demolished.

“We can’t wait until October next year to make a plan,” Gadbois said.

The shelter agreement follows the Quebec government’s release of emergency homelessness funds last week. Kuujjuaq was also named last week as the site of a Nunavik school board pilot program.

Details of the elders’ home closure were first reported by Nunatsiaq News, and the shelter agreement was reported by Nunatsiaq News. Canada News Media has not independently confirmed the agreement with the other parties.

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